Tracing the Landscape of Dance in Greece Tracing the Landscape of Dance in Greece By Katia Savrami Tracing the Landscape of Dance in Greece By Katia Savrami This book first published 2019 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2019 by Katia Savrami All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-4220-3 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4220-4 Cover image: From a rehearsal of Crosstalk Choreography, 2009, © Ioannis Mandafounis. Dedicated to my parents CONTENTS Acknowledgements .................................................................................... ix Foreword .................................................................................................... xi Ann Cooper Albright Preface ....................................................................................................... xv Chapter I ...................................................................................................... 1 Ballet in Western Culture: Origins and Evolution Dance in the courts of Europe The Ballet d’action Ballet in Imperial Russia The era of the Ballets Russes Ballet in the Soviet Union Chapter II ................................................................................................... 13 Issues of Greek History and Cultural Identity The formation of the modern Greek nation Art trends after the establishment of the new Greek state Searching for Greek identity: the cultural roots of dance Τhe Hellenic influence on Isadora Duncan’s legacy Koula Pratsika’s heritage The initiation of ballet schools in Athens Dance in Greece from the 1950s to 1970s Professional dance education in Greece: a synopsis Cultural politics in Greece and the national narrative at the turn of the century Chapter III ................................................................................................. 47 The Establishment of Ballet in the Greek National Opera The Greek National Opera Ballet: a historical overview The Greek National Opera Ballet from the 1980s onwards Revolutionising ballet in the modern era: from Balanchine to Forsythe viii Contents Chapter IV ................................................................................................. 71 New Policies in Dance: The Challenges of the Twenty-First Century Intellectual shifts in dance: from modern to conceptual dance The explosion of Greek contemporary dance Creating collaborative art projects in times of crisis Performative events in social spaces The Greek National Opera Ballet nowadays A new era for the Greek National Opera The Greek National Opera’s artistic and financial policies Coda Bibliography ............................................................................................ 119 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my colleague and collaborator Maria Tsouvala, academic, choreographer and educator, for her enthusiastic encouragement, her critical comments and suggestions, and her continuous support for the completion of this book. I also owe thanks to C. Nadia Seremetakis, Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of the Peloponnese, for sharing with me her theoretical knowledge through various discussions for the content of this book. I would like to thank my colleagues at the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Patras, Professor Stavros Tsitsiridis for his suggestions on the structure of the book, as well as Assistant Professor Agis Marinis for his comments when the book was completed. I am also grateful to Professor Rob Roznowski, Head of Acting and Directing at the Theatre Department of the Michigan State University, for reading the manuscript and for all his suggestions. Many thanks to Menelaos Karantzas, PhD Candidate at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Maria Koliopoulou, choreographer of Prosxima Dance Company, who are always keen to support my projects, both theoretical and practical. Thanks to Mariza Vinieratou and Jenny Hill, lifelong friends and colleagues, for their continuous support for my work. Many thanks to the staff of the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Patras, to Aleka Bertsoukli in particular, for their assistance in my projects. I am truly grateful to you all. Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciations to Ann Cooper Albright, Professor and Chair of the Department of Dance at Oberlin College and Conservatory, United States, dancer and scholar, for her opinions and insights, for her steady support for our work in Greece through the crisis, as well as for her intellectual contribution to the Choros International Dance Journal since its establishment in 2012. I owe special thanks to her for writing the Foreword of this book. FOREWORD It is with a great deal of pleasure that I write this Foreword to Professor Katia Savrami’s Tracing the Landscape of Dance in Greece. Written for a new generation of Greek dancers and choreographers who need to learn the power of their own history as well as for international dance studies scholars interested in the evolution of dance in Greece, this book presents an eloquent summary of the historical and cultural trajectories of theatrical dance in Greece. In four brief but thorough chapters, Savrami establishes how theatrical dance developed alongside the formation of the modern Greek state, and how the foundational elements of European and Soviet ballet were translated and re-interpreted within the establishment and evolution of the Greek National Opera over the course of the twentieth century. In addition, she traces the enduring influence of an imaginary Hellenic topos envisioned by modern dancers from America and Europe such as Isadora Duncan and Eva Palmer who came to Greece in the early twentieth century. I was particularly interested to learn of pioneers of modern dance such as Rallou Manou and Zouzou Nikoloudi and the important role of Greek women like them who forged a new type of expressive movement in Greece. In the last section, Savrami charts the vital emergence of a contemporary dance scene and its development once Greece joined the European Union in 1981. During this period, Greek dancers and choreographers were able to take advantage of their increased mobility and open job opportunities to pursue new creative and collaborative partnerships with artists across Europe. Throughout her meticulous mapping of the landscape of dance in Greece, Professor Savrami convincingly demonstrates how theatrical dance in Greece was necessarily an amalgam of different influences. Situated at the crossroads of east and west, Greece occupies a geographic space that was home to many different peoples and customs. As she traces this history from four centuries of Ottoman rule to the mixed blessings of membership in the European Union, Savrami reveals how Greek dance artists have navigated the tides of an ethnic and cultural hybridism to produce in its wake an approach to physical expressivity that is uniquely Greek. This narrative includes the tensions not only between east and west, but also between classical ballet and modern dance, artistic communities and state power, and ancient roots and contemporary multi- cultural experiences. Savrami also includes in her discussion a critical xii Foreword mapping of the influences of the changes in political tides on the landscape of dance as well as dance education. Knowing one’s history is the first step in being able to advocate effectively for the renewed importance of dancing in the twenty-first century. One of the key sections to understanding the evolution of dance in Greece, particularly for international dance scholars, is Chapter III on the establishment of the Greek National Opera, which housed the first state- funded ballet company. Originally founded in 1939 by Costis Bastias, Minister of Education, this company was the first to bring professional dancers on the stage as part of the operas presented in the National Theatre of Greece. Ironically enough, during the occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers, the Greek National Opera continued to flourish, aided by a German love of opera as well as benefitting from a program of guest artists and visiting composers from Germany. After the war, the Greek National Opera became an independent institution. Within this organisation, ballet was staged as a legitimate art form in its own right under the structure of “Ballet Evenings” and the number and quality of dancers increased. Under the military dictatorship (1967-1974), ballet suffered from its associations with art forms from outside of Greece, but later thrived under a series of new directors. In 1983, dance was officially declared a “profession” by the Greek government, and contemporary dance began to find its own footing outside of state-run institutions. Although many contemporary Greek dancers and choreographers have taken advantage of the European Union’s opening up of extraordinary opportunities to study experimental dance, improvisation and composition at international centers such as S.E.A.D. in Salzburg and P.A.R.T.S. in Belgium, they return to a country that has suffered from depleted arts funding for several generations. Savrami